Interview with María Celina Malvazo
Tell us what type of family we hope to serve?
HFHA hopes to serve the families with the greatest need. Today our projects are directed toward families who can pay a maximum monthly quota of $150 (pesos) / u$s 50 (dollars).
How do you achieve this?
We face a great challenge here. Traditionally HFHA has focused on designing and offering a certain type of house to the focus public. Then if the families were able to pay the quota and fell within the selection criteria set by HFHA they were able to enter the program. Now we have modified the system by identifying the needs of the poorest families first instead of designing a product (home) then looking for a family to fit into it. We analyze the socioeconomic situation of our focus group and produce a plan to offer long term credit to solve their housing needs. These credits are adjustable depending upon the needs and the possibilities of each family. The families return the money without interest over a long period of time.
How are families selected?
We prepare social reports on the families interested in our program that fit the profile of our focus group for each separate project. Next, a Selection Committee consisting of local volunteers and HFHA personnel evaluate each case. Those families with the greatest most urgent need have priority over the others. In addition other organizations HFHA works in association with can recommend a family. Once selected the family is accepted into the program.
What does the follow up consist of?
Once a family is selected they attend a series of workshops before, during and after the construction of their house. These workshops not only strengthen the ties between HFHA and the family but also enable us to address the needs of each family and strengthen the central values of HFHA like faith in action and sweat equity.
The children are also included in workshops through the Little Bricks Project. Both mothers and children attend educational and recreational workshops where they learn the value of having a home and its maintenance. At the same time we help them adapt to a new mode of living that is often very different than what they were used to.
In order to maintain a continuous relationship with the HFHA families we offer workshops on Financial Literacy and Legal Literacy. We also give workshops in partnership with other NGO’s on topics such as the changes in a growing family, family health, education and how to start a small business.
Is that what you call “More than Houses”?
Yes, we in HFHA want to provide the families and communities with “More than Houses”, giving them tools by which they can develop and grow. We wish to be a means by which the family progresses, where they are able to achieve a new reality no longer living in a precarious lifestyle. Owning a house alone is very important but it does not guarantee progress nor does it strengthen the family or the community.
Do the families achieve a true transformation?
That is our goal. Of course the transformation does not happen from one day to the next nor does it happen once the family moves into their house. Our job starts with the house and continues year after year. For this reason we are developing a measurement tool “Human Development Measurement Tool” that allows us to visualize and monitor the concrete development of each family over the years. That way we know if we are successfully enabling the positive transformation of each family.
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